US3286938A

US3286938A - Vertical refiner

Info

Publication number: US3286938A
Application number: US341644A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lawrence A Moore; Loyal H Hess
Original assignee: Beloit Corp
Current assignee: Beloit Corp
Priority date: 1964-01-31
Filing date: 1964-01-31
Publication date: 1966-11-22
Anticipated expiration: 1983-11-22

Description

Nov. 22, 1966 L. A. MOORE ETAL VERTICAL REFINER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1' Filed Jan. 31, 1964 INVENTORS LAWRENCE A. MOORE BY LOYAL H.HESS i Azw4 ATTORNEYS Nov. 22, 1966 L. A. MOORE ETAL. 3,286,938

VERTICAL REFINER Filed Jan. 31, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN LET INVENTORS LAWRENCE A. MOORE LOYAL m-uass ATTO RN EYS Nov. 22,1966 1.. A. MOORE ETAL 3,286,938

VERTICAL REFINER Filed Jan. 31, 1964 :3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS LAWRENCE A.MOORE LOYAL H. HESS ATT RNEYS United States Patent 3,286,938 VERTICAL REFINER Lawrence A. Moore and Loyal H. Hess, Beloit, Wis., assignors to Beloit Corporation, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Jan. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 341,644 Claims. (Cl. 241-162) The present invention relates to improvements in paper stock refiners.

More particularly, the invention contemplates providing a vertical paper stock refiner supported in a vertical housing means with an upper refining chamber therein closed by a cap with the chamber containing an upper stator supported on the cap and having a lower refining face, a lower stator within the chamber having an upper refining face, upper and lower rotors in the chamber having upper and lower refining faces and respectively supported on an inner shaft and an outer coaxial tubular shaft with said shafts being relatively axially adjustable to adjust the axial positioning of the rotors for controlling the refining spaces.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved rotary refiner which requires a minimum of installation space and permits servicing such as removal of the refining plates with replacement of new plates without disassembly of the entire mechanism and with a minim-um of effort and space requirement.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved refiner With features of control of the refining operation by adjustment of the position of the refining plates.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved vertical refiner wherein means are provided for adjustment of the refining spaces and the refined stock passes through a series of refining spaces which automatically adjust themselves to the condition of the stock, being balanced by the hydraulic forces of the stock in the refining spaces.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved refiner construction and means for supporting refiner plates for operation, and for servicing.

Other objects, advantages and features will become more apparent with the teaching of the principles of the present invention in connection with the disclosure of the preferred embodiments thereof in the specification, claims and drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view of a refiner constructed and operating in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary detailed view of the lower end of the refined illustrating another form of support for the rotors;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the refiner of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the axis of a rotor of modified construction;

and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the axis of a refiner showing another form.

As shown on the drawings:

FIGURES 1 and 3 show a refiner driven by a motor 10 within a housing 11 having an upper housing part 12 with a .refiner chamber 13 therein. The refiner chamber 13 has a large upwardly facing opening closed by a cap or cover 14.

Within the refiner chamber and suported from. the cover 14 is an upper refiner plate or stator 15. Also within the chamber 13 is a lower refiner plate or stator 16. The

stators

15 and 16 respectively have downwardly and upwardly facing refining faces which are provided with desired refining teeth or blades.

3,286,938 Patented Nov. 22, 1966 ice Also within the chamber, and between the

stators

15 and 16 are upper and lower plates or refiner rotors 17 and 18. These respectively have upwardly and downwardly facing refining faces to coact with .the faces of the stators.

The rotors are interlocked for corotation but can be adjusted relative to each other in an axial direction and for this purpose have sliding pins 19 extending into openings in the rotors. The space between the rotors may be open for a flexible seal may be provided at the peripheral edge thereof. Between the stators and rotors are refining

spaces

25 and 26 and these spaces are controlled by the spacing between the rotors 17 and 18.

Stock flows into the refiner through an inlet passage 20 leading to an annular inlet chamber 24 beneath the rotor. The stock then flows radially outwardly through the refiner space 26 into the periphery of the chamber 13 and then radially inwardly through the refiner space 25 to an outlet chamber 22 in the cover 14. A passage 23, FIGURE 3, leads radially outwardly to a discharge outlet 24.

With this arrangement the inlet passage 20 and outlet passage 23 are carried within the upper housing part 12 and need not be disassembled for replacement of the refiner plates. When replacement is required the cover 14 is easily removed, and this is held on by suitable means such as cap screws, not shown, whichare on the flanged edge of the cover 14. The upper refiner plate is suitably attached to the cover and will thus be lifted off when the cover is removed, and the rotor plates 17 and 18 are removed by respectively removing a nut 28 from the top of the shaft 27 and .a nut 30 from the top of the shaft 29. The lower stator is secured in the housing part 12 at the base of the chamber 13 and also can easily be removed through the opening at the top of the chamber 13.

The shaft 27 for supporting the upper stator 17 extends coaxially downwardly within the outer tubular shaft 29 for the lower stator 18. A supporting slide bearing 30a supports the upper end of the shaft 27 within the tubular shaft 29.

Drivingly secured to the outer tubular shaft is a rotor 10a of the motor 10. The shafts adjust up and down relative to each other, and the outer shaft adjusts up and down relative to the housing 11 and passes through a seal 31 at its upper end which provides a seal for the inlet chamber 24. Below the inlet chamber attached to the shaft 29 is a slinger ring 32 throwing liquid outwardly and the liquid can leak out through small inlet openings 3211 on the housing part 12 and housing 11.

The outer shaft 29 has an upper support bearing 33 supported in a collar 34 mounted on a support Wall 34a in the housing 11. A lower bearing 35 for the outer shaft 29 is vertically slidably mounted in a support collar 36 carried on a wall 37 of the housing 11 (the wall has separated openings around the collar).

The lower end of the outer shaft 29 has a shaft extension 39 which is mounted so as to 'be non-rotatable such as by being keyed to the outer shell of the bearing 35. The inner shaft 27 has a bearing 40 at its lower end so as to permit its rotation with the rotors, and has a lower nonrotatable' extension 41 which may be made nonrotatable such as by being keyed to the outer shaft extension 39.

The

lower shaft extensions

38 and 39 are threaded and are engaged by a tubular nut 41. Various threading arrangements may be employed so that when the tubular nut 41 is rotated the spacing between the rotors 17 and 18 is changed. For example, the extension 38 may be a right-hand thread and the extension 39 a left-hand thread so that rotation of the nut 41 in one direction will bring the rotors 17 and 18 together, and rotation of the nut in the other direction will spread the rotors 17 and 'inlet 64 leads into the refining chamber.

18. Also the

extensions

38 and 39 may be threaded in the same direction but have differential threads with different leads so that with rotation of the nut 41 the inner shaft 27 will have movement relative to the outer shaft 29, thus changing the spacing between the plates 17 and 18. This of course will require readjustment of. the elevation of the units supporting the rotors 17 and 18.

To support the rotors and their shaft, and the motor rotor a, threaded

rods

43 and 44 extend downwardly from the collar 36 to support a housing 42 for a worm gearing which drives the nut 41 in rotation. This worm gearing is suitably driven by a drive shown schematically at 43a, and 43a may be a bracket for supporting a reversible rotor adjustment drive motor.

The housing 42 is clamped between

upper nuts

45 and 46 on the

rods

43 and 44, and

lower nuts

47 and 48. The position of the

lower nuts

47 and 48 will of course determine the elevation of the refiner rotor plates 17 and 18 and the plates generally will be centered with respect to the stators and 16. If the shaft extensions 38. and 39 are threaded in opposite directions, an original setting may be obtained for the housing 42 which centers the plates, and adjustment thereafter will move the plates equal distances up and down and maintain the

refining spaces

25 and 26 the same.

In some instances, it is desirable to provide a floating support for the rotors 17 and 18. This permits the

spaces

25 and 26 to automatically adjust themselves to the stock requirements. In other words, the spacing between the rotors 17 and 18 is first set, and then during operation the

refining spaces

25 and 26 will remain substantially equal by the rotors floating between the

stators

15 and 16. For this purpose the rotors, their shafts 27 and 29, and the motor rotor 10a are supported by applying a vertical upward force equal to the weight of these members. This arrangement is shownin FIGURE 2.

In FIGURE 2, coil support springs 49 and 50 are mounted on the

rods

43 and 44 beneath the worm drive housing. The nuts 51 and 52 are turned up to a position where the rotors 17 and 18 are substantially centered between the

stators

15 and 16.

Upper stop nuts

53 and 54 may be provided to limit the upward travel of the unit to prevent physical interference between the surfaces of the upper stator 15 and the upper rotor 17. Similarly,

lower stop nuts

55 and 56 may be provided to prevent the unit from moving downwardly so far that there is interference between the surfaces of the lower stator 16 and the lower rotor 18. These spacings of course will be set for maximum spacing of the rotors 17 and 18. The stop nuts 53, 54, 55 and 56 may be omitted and the

springs

49 and 50 set to centrally position the rotors, and the rotors will remain operationally centered by opposing hydraulic forces of the stock on the rotor plates.

FIGURE 4 shows an arrangement wherein only two refiner plates are used. In the arrangement of FIGURE 4 a housing 57 has a refining chamber 58 therein. A11 The refining chamber is closed at its upper end by a cover 59 which supports an upper stator plate '60. A rotor plate 61.

is supported on a shaft 62 passing down through a seal 63. Stock is fed through an inlet 64 into the chamber.

58 to pass radially through a refining space 66 between the plates and to flow outwardly through a discharge passage 65. In the single disc rotor of FIGURE 4 .a screw jack similar to the arrangement of FIGURE 1 may be employed which merely raises or lowers the shaft 62 to determine the refining space 66. For obtaining uniform refining the horse power input of the drive motor may be measured and this will be an indication of refining operation with uniform stock. If the horse power drops the gap 66 it is Wearing, it must be reduced. The setting of the gap may also be made as a function of stock characteristic. In operation of the arrangement of FIG- URES l and 2, stock is fed into the inlet and passes into the annular chamber 24 to flow radially outwardly 4 through the refining space 26 into the periphery of the chamber 13. The stock then flows radially inwardly through the-refining space 25 and out through the outlet passage 22. The refining spaces are controlled by axially relatively shifting the shafts 27 and 29 which respectively support the upper rotor plate 17 and the lower rotor plate 18. The shafts may be rigidly supported in their adjusted position by the mechanism of FIGURE 1, or yieldably supported by the mechanism of FIGURE 2.

In the arrangement of FIGURE .5, 'a rotary refiner is provided within a housing 70 which defines a refining chamber 73 therein having an inlet 71 and an outlet 72. Stock enters the inlet 71 through a conduit, not,shown, and after being subjected to refining action flows out through the outlet 72.

Within the refiner chamber 73 is an upper refiner plate or stator 75 and a facing upper rotary refiner plate or rotor 76. The

plates

75 and 76 define an upper refining space 74 between them'.

Also within the chamber 73 ,is a lower stationary refining plate or stator 78 and a facing rotary refining plate. or rotor 77. The plates 77 and 78 define a lower refining.

space 74a between them. As the stock enters the inlet:71

it passes through the annular lower refining space 74a to the outer peripheral edge of the chamber 73 and then through the upper refining space 74 passing inwardly and out through the outlet 72. The plates have refining spaces with teeth or blades as will be appreciated by those versed in the art. The

rotors

76 and 77 are driven in rotation by their supporting shafts, and may be driven by a motor such as in the arrangement of FIGURE 1, or may be driven by a motor secured to an upper shaft 79 secured to the upper rotor 76. p

The lower rotor is supported on a tubular shaft 81 which extends downwardly from the rotor and is supported in

bearings

82 and 84. The

bearings

82 and 84 are slidable in an outer tubular support 87 so as to permit vertical movement of the rotor 77 to thereby change the width of the refining space 74a. A seal 91 is at the upper end of the shaft 81 adjacent the inlet 71. The upper rotor 76 is supported on a shaft coaxial bag is positioned between the upper and

lower rotors

76 and 77. The bag 88 may be annular in shape, or may consist of a plurality of individual circular. bags or air springs suitably secured in place between the

rotors

76 and 77. The bag or air spring 88 is provided with a pressure control line 89 which connects to the bag 88 and. leads down through a central bore in the shaft 80 to a pressure supply source. By controlling the pressure in the line 89 the spreading force on the

rotors

76 and 77 is controlled. Thus as the spreading force is increased or decreased, the

rotors

76 and 77 will tend to remain centrally located between the plates 75 and 78 .due to the reaction force of the stock passing through the refining spaces 74 and 74a. If the refiner is positioned so that the

shafts

79, 80 and 81 are vertical then a suitablebalancing means as indicated schematically by the arrowed line 90 is provided to apply a balancing force so that the

rotors

76 and 77 are substantially weightless in the chamber 73 and will automatically maintaintheir centered position.

Thus, it will be seen that we have provided animproved vertical refiner meeting the objectives and advantages above set forth. The unit may take various forms within the principles of the invention requiring a minimum amount ofspace and the refiner plates are quickly and easily changed by simple removal of the cover plate.

The drawings and specification present a detailed disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the invention, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific forms disclosed, but covers all modifications, changes and alternative constructions and methods falling within the scope of the principles taught by the invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A paper'stock refiner comprising in combination,

an upper stator having a lower refining surface,

a lower stator having an upper refining surface,

upper and lower rotors between said stators respectively having upper and lower refining surfaces facing the surfaces of the stators and defining refining spaces therebetween,

means rotatably supporting said rotors in a predetermined location between said stators,

means rigidly supporting said stators,

an outer tubular shaft supporting said lower rotor,

an inner shaft coaxial with the outer shaft supporting the upper rotor,

means driving said shaft,

extensions of the lower ends of said shafts,

threads at the lower ends of said shaft extensions having differences in thread lead,

and a nut threadably engaging the threads of said shaft extensions for controllably adjusting the relative positions of said shafts with rotation of the nut relative to the shaft extensions.

2. A paper stock refiner comprising in combination,

an upper stator having a. lower refining surface,

a lower stator having an upper refining surface,

shaft means supporting said rotors,

means relatively axially adjusting the position of the rotors relative to each other,

a motor having a rotor attached to said shaft means,

and means yieldably applying a force when the rotors are equidistant between the stators substantially equivalent to the weight of the shaft means, plus refiner rotors and motor rotor members in an axial direction to said members so that the refiner rotors will be floatingly positioned midway between said stators.

3. A paper stock refiner comprising in combination,

an upper stator having a lower refining surface,

a lower stator having an upper refining surface,

upper and lower rotors between said stators closely adjacent each other respectively having upper and lower refining surfaces facing the surfaces of the stators and defining refining spaces therebetween,

an outer tubular shaft supporting said lower rotor and extending downwardly away from the rotor,

an inner shaft coaxial within said outer shaft and extending downwardly away from said rotors,

a motor having a motor rotor drivingly connected to said shafts,

a housing means surrounding said motor and having an upper chamber with an upper opening larger than the rotors and stators for removal thereof,

outlet and inlet passages in the housing means for feeding stock to the refining spaces,

and a cover removably secured over said opening for the removal of the rotor and stator without disassembly of the housing means.

4. A paper stock refiner comprising in combination,

an upper stator having a lower refining surface,

a lower stator having an upper refining surface,

rotational locking pins extending between said rotors permitting relative axial movement and locking the rotorsin rotation,

an outer tubular shaft supporting the lower rotor,

an inner shaft coaxial with the outer shaft supporting the upper rotor,

a motor having a rotor drivingly connected to the outer shaft,

a motor housing having an upper portion defining a refining chamber opening upwardly and being at least as large as said rotors and stators,

a cap removably secured to the housing closing said refining chamber and supporting said upper stator,

an upper bearing supporting the motor rotor supported in said housing and vertically movable therein,

a lower bearing supporting the motor rotor and vertically movable therein,

a bearing supporting said inner shaft,

a bearing supporting said outer shaft,

a threaded inner shaft extension,

a threaded outer shaft extension,

a support nut threaded to said shaft extensions and rotatable for relatively axially moving said shafts for determining the spacing of said rotors,

and means mounted on the housing supporting the weight of the shafts and motor rotor with the shafts supporting the upper and lower rotors.

5. A paper stock refiner comprising in combination,

an upper stator having a lower refining surface,

a lower stator having an upper refining surface,

upper and lower rotors closely adjacent each other and being located between said stators respectively having upper and lower refining surfaces facing the surfaces of the stators and defining spaces therebetween,

a first tubular shaft supporting the lower rotor and extending downwardly away from the lower rotor,

a second shaft supporting the upper rotor and extending downwardly within the tubular shaft and away from said rotors,

means driving said shafts,

and means positioned below both of said rotors connected to said shafts for relatively axially adjusting the position of said shafts for controlling said refining spaces.

References Clted by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,762,122 6/1930 Marsh 241-259 2,838,247 6/ 1958 Hauser 24l259 X 3,161,359 12/1964 Dalzell 241l62 X FOREIGN PATENTS 344,446 11/ 1921 Germany.

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner. D. G. KELLY, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A PAPER STOCK REFINER COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, AN UPPER STATOR HAVING A LOWER REFINING SURFACE A LOWER STATOR HAVING AN UPPER REFINING SURFACE, UPPER AND LOWER ROTORS BETWEEN SAID STATORS RESPECTIVELY HAVING UPPER AND LOWER REFINING SURFACES FACING THE SURFACES OF THE STATORS AND DEFINING REFINING SPACES THEREBETWEEN, MEANS ROTATABLY SUPPORTING SAID ROTORS IN A PREDETERMINED LOCATION BETWEEN SAID STATORS, MEANS RIGIDLY SUPPORTING SAID STATORS, AN OUTER TUBULAR SHAFT SUPPORTING SAID LOWER ROTOR, AN INNER SHAFT COAXIAL WITH THE OUTER SHAFT SUPPORTING THE UPPER ROTOR, MEANS DRIVING SAID SHAFT, EXTENSIONS OF THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID SHAFTS, THREADS AT THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID SHAFT EXTENSIONS HAVING DIFFERENCES IN THREAD LEAD, AND A NUT THREADABLY ENGAGING THE THREADS OF SAID SHAFT EXTENSIONS FOR CONTROLLABLY ADJUSTING THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OF SAID SHAFTS WITH ROTATION OF THE NUT RELATIVE TO THE SHAFT EXTENSIONS.